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Work expected at several Chemical Valley plants this year

Work continues Monday in Sarnia on a $1.5-million expansion at Alliance Fabricating on Chester Street. A survey for the Ontario Construction Secretariat found most contractors in the region from Sarnia to Windsor are feeling positive about the coming construction season. (Paul Morden, The Observer)

More than half of contractors surveyed in the Sarnia and Windsor region are optimistic about the coming construction season, according to the Ontario Construction Secretariat.

The joint labour and management organization surveyed 850 contractors for this year's Construction Confidence Indicator, and found those in southwestern Ontario, as well as the Greater Toronto Area, were the most optimistic about the coming year.

Sarnia and Windsor scored 59, out of 100, on an index indicating whether or not they expect to be busier this year.

London had the top score at 65, with Toronto next at 60. Kitchener-Waterloo was tied with Sarnia-Windsor at 59.

The overall index for Ontario was 57, down from 62 last year.

“I think that's just a reflection of the uncertainty of our economy and which way it's really going to go,” said secretariat CEO Sean Strickland.

“Anything above 50 means a majority of contractors, albeit a small majority at 57, believe they're going to do more work in 2016 than they did in 2015.”

During the 2009 recession, the overall indicator dropped to 49.

“And then, the indicator crept up as more stimulus spending came into play,” Strickland said.

The secretariat is describing this year's overall outlook for the province as cautiously optimistic.

Strickland said the outlook for southwestern Ontario “has really picked up in this year's indicator,” compared to the two previous years, he said.

“I think that's a reflection of the increased activity in terms of manufacturing and exports, related to the low Canadian dollar.”

That view was supported by a Statistics Canada report in January showing exports were up significantly in all sectors, Strickland said.

“We're going to do fairly well, we think, in the Sarnia area,” said Ray Curran, with the Sarnia Construction Association.

“Some of the other areas of the province won't be doing as well.”

This year's confidence index for central and eastern Ontario sits at 57, and in Northern Ontario it's 49.

Curran said work is expected this year at several plants in Chemical Valley, “so we're confident it will be a reasonably good year.”

Regular shutdown and maintenance work at refineries and chemical manufacturers is a unique feature of the construction landscape in Sarnia-Lambton, Curran said.

“Last year was a good year, thanks to our major industries,” he said.

“Even though the price of oil has hurt some of the companies, it still looks like we're going to have a reasonable year.”

Along with ongoing maintenance work in Chemical Valley, contractors in Sarnia-Lambton are looking for good news in the coming years on the possibility of larger jobs, Curran said.

“We're particularly hopeful for future projects, such as Nova and others, that are in the works,” he said.

Expectations for growth in the industrial sector were the highest this year in Sarnia and Windsor, according to the survey.

One of the surprises came when contractors were asked about the federal government's promise of new infrastructure spending.

The response by contractors was “decidedly muted,” Strickland said.

Only four per cent in southwestern Ontario said they expected to benefit greatly from the federal spending.

“We would have expected a higher level of expectation with federal infrastructure spending,” Strickland said.

That may be reflection of the lack of information about the details of the federal government's plans, and what impact the spending will have, Strickland said.